Lecture 5 Mitigation

Question 1

Three possible views on the obligations of firms

Answer 1

1) obligation is soley to shareholders to increase profit

2) Primary obligation is to shareholders to increase profit (this obligation may be overrun for the moral reasons)

3) multiple obligations towards shareholders and other stakeholders, that need to be balanced depending on the circumstances

Question 2

Theories of SCR can help deciding what is the morally right thing to do in cases of moral dilemmas: applied to sustainability, there are two potential questions

Answer 2

Do firms have environmental obligaitons

Obligations to what exactly

Question 3

Environmental obligations on the three views

Answer 3

the first view is incompatible with environmental obligations

If you have one only obligation, and that is for profit of the shareholders, environmental action can only be taken if it increases profit

The second and the third views are compatible with environmental obligations

Question 4

Businesses have a moral obligation to mitigate climate change

Answer 4

Mitigation: take active steps to reduce the causes and effects of climate change

Use renewable energies, reduce waste, incentivize public transport

Question 5

Schwenkenbecher says firms should do that because the havea negative duty towards individuals (def neg duties)

Answer 5

negative duties: duties not to interfere with someones rights (i.e. duty not to kill, to not interfere with someones right to live)

Positive duties: Duties to make someone better off (i.e. duty to resuce)

Question 6

Schwenkenbecher says firms have a negative duty

Answer 6

to mitigate climate change, given that climate change harms individuals

This means that taking action to mitigate climate change (be it by reducing ones own carbon footpring or by contributing to mitigating measures in others forms) is a way of complying with ones negative duties, rather than ones positive duties. It is a way of preventing or limiting harm

Obligations towards shareholders need not trump negative duties towards all moral agents. If one accepts that avoidable emissions constitute morally wrongful harm then companies can ahve stringent obligations to cut those, even at the cost of profit and sharholders interests

Question 7

Corporate social responsibility

Answer 7

Measure that are cosmetic (to improve the companys image) or that arent just cosmetic, but go beyond the firms obligation

Question 8

Corporate moral responsibility

Answer 8

measures that firms are morally obligated to do

Moral obligations: harm, respect, virtue

No need to make this distinction, but useful to help you think about the material